24 Days
by Secret Saturn
Summary: When Dot gets kidnapped, Yakko and Wakko, along with some OC's, go on a journey to save her. With only the kidnappers clues and 24 days, will they get their in time to save their sister? YakkoXOC WakkoXOC
1. Chapter 1

Animaniacs

Presents

"24 Days."

Chapter 1: The Beginning

**A/N: So, I've kinda been wanting to write a really long story, and it will be 26 chapters (counting this chapter being the beginning, Day 1 will be labeled next chapter.). I have asked KaylaMicael, an amazing writer, to help me. She will be revising/cowriting. Thanks to animeandcartoonsfreak for adding to the idea :).**

**Storyline: Dot is kidnapped, so Yakko and Wakko go on a journey, as they follow her kidnapper's clues, to save their sister.**

**Note: Will later throw in some OC's. This is a short chapter. **

**oO Yakko's P.O.V Oo**

Dark shadows started to multiply, surrounding us with no way out. I backed up a few steps, feeling the sweat run down my face. I needed a strategy, and fast.

Either that, or die.

**oO A few days earlier Oo**

"Man, I didn't think Scratchy's face could get any more red!" I laughed, coming into the tower, locking the door behind me.

"He almost blew up! I thought his head was going to explode!" Dot added.

"That lady got up so fast when I hit the gas button! It was loud, too..." Wakko pressed the button on the red remote, and a loud farting sound came from a little speaker that was in his other hand.

My sibs and I had just ruined yet another date of Dr. Otto Scratchansniff. I was starting think we should write a book on sabotaging dates.

Still laughing, we went into our bedroom and got ready for the night. I climbed the ladder and slipped into my bunk.

"Night, guys." I said.

"Night, Yakko." Dot said as she climbed into her bed.

"Night, Yakko." Wakko echoed as he did the same.

After a minute, Dot spoke up from above me.

"Hey, Yakko?"

"Yes, dear sister of mine?" I replied.

"What are we gonna do tomorrow?"

"I don't know. You should know by now, I come up with these things at the last minute." I said, grinning to myself.

"Why?" she asked

I shrugged, as if she saw me.

"Beats me. What do you think we should do tomorrow?"

"I don't know." She replied.

"Wakko?" I asked. But all I got was a soft snore from the other end.

"Well, he's out."

"What else is new?" Dot snorted. I heard her bed moving as she got comfortable.

"Night," she yawned.

"Night, Dottie."

I felt a blunt object hit the right side of my cheek.

At least it was a pillow this time.

"You should know by now to not call me Dottie! Now give me my pillow, I need my cutie sleep!"

I saw the silhouette of her hand come down. In a playful mood, I gave her a high five.

"NOW!"

I winced at the growl and quickly gave her back her pillow.

Oh, what would I ever do without her?

I'd mess with Wakko, but she's more fun to pick on hands down.

"G'night, pincess," I said, chuckling a little.

Apparently that went too far. Before I knew it, I was on the ground, tackled by my furious sister.

"I wasn't kidding," she snarled. I couldn't help but laugh.

"I was."

She now had her nose up to mine, clutching my shoulders.

"I will tear you apart if you say another word."

"Purple," I tested her.

She got off of me, and I heard her make her way to her bunk.

"What happened? I was looking forward to being torn apart."

"Don't worry, Yakko Warner… I'll get my revenge. Ya know, your big mouth is going to get you in trouble one day," she said.

I shook my head in amusement, but by now I was starting to wind down. With a yawn, I got back on my bed and drifted off to sleep.

**oOOo**

I woke up, and looked at the clock.

10:00.

I slowly got up, stretched, and made my way to the door.

_I don't feel like fixing anything this morning... my back hurts. Must've been from when Dot tackled me last night..._

I quickly changed to my usual slacks and scribbled down a 'BRB' note, putting it on the middle of the table.

With that, I went out.

**oOOo**

I entered the lot carrying a box of donuts, eating one on my way towards the ladder. I slipped a couple to Ralph when I caught him grabbing his net. Bribery works when I don't feel like running.

As soon as I touched the ladder, I felt weird chills run up my spine.

Something's wrong.

With being the oldest and caring for two siblings alone, I concluded a long time ago I had developed parental instincts. Very few times it had gone off, and it was usually something little, like a fight, or a cut.

Still, the feeling got worse with every step I took toward our water tower.

Maybe it was one of Dot's revenges; at least, that's what I hoped. I got to the door, pulled out my keys with a shaky hand, and unlocked it.

As soon as I stepped inside I heard someone crying softly, and immediately knew who it was:

Wakko.

I dropped the box and dashed to our room. Wakko was huddled in a corner, his knees pulled up to his chest. I quickly went over and knelt down, gently putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Wakko, what's the matter? Where's Dot?"

I was hoping she was in the other room, and they had just gotten in a fight, but I felt that wasn't the case.

"Sh-she isn't with you?" he sniffled.

I shook my head, the fear reaching a record level as I looked frantically around the room.

"M-maybe she went out for a walk..."

I bit my lip, knowing I was only giving myself false hope. Wakko shakily held out a small piece of crinkled paper.

"I f-found this on her bed, b-but I can't r-read it."

I grabbed the note and scanned it; it was only three lines long, but it had threat written all over it.

I trembled as my deepest fears were confirmed.

She was gone, and somebody took her.

**A/N: And that was Chapter One. It's kinda short, but all my stories start out that way, I promise you the next chapter is going to be longer because I am throwing my OC's in. Are you excited? I am. Please tell me what you think.**

**Again, Thank you to KaylaMicael for the revising.**


	2. Chapter 2: Day 1

Animaniac's

Presents

"24 Days"

Chapter 2: Day 1

**A/N: I'm flattered by the number of people who keep coming back and reading my stories! I thank you guys, you know who you are!**

**oOOo**

"What-what does it say?" I heard fear rising in my brother's voice. I felt tears brim my eyes, as I read it over and over again.

"It's... it's a haiku..." I whispered.

"What's that?" my brother asked, cocking his head.

"A poem Wak, it's a poem..." I cleared my throat, trying not to choke over the tears.

"Late in night, I took  
The girl you most hold dear, now  
Meet at Shast Forest.  
-N"

Fear was now completely covering his face.

"But that's-"

"A forbidden forest." I finished his line for him. I stuffed the note in my pocket, and headed for the door.

"Where you going?"

I turned around and looked at him.

"To save our baby sister."

Without a word, he got up and followed me.

oOOo

We looked out at the dark forest on the side of Burbank. Burbank always had a dark cast to it, but this, this was dark. Clouds always were hanging above it, and the forest seemed endless from this end. Fog crept out of it, and a wolf could be heard howling at an invisible moon. It would give the devil himself chills down his spine.

"Hey! Person! I want my sis back!" I called into the forest.

No answer.

"Hello?"

We stood there for about ten minutes.

"Yakko, this place is not faboo..."

Suddenly, I saw a shadow flash between two trees. I quickly grabbed Wakko's hand and dashed for the shadow. But only a few meters in, the figure was gone, and I had no idea where I was.

"Yakko, look at this!" I turned and saw my brother point at a little yellow note.

I went over. It was another Haiku.

"In 24 days  
Go on a journey with clues  
And you'll get her back.  
-N"

"Man, this sucks..." I muttered

"What? What we have to do?" Wakko asked anxiously.

"No, this haiku. This guy's not very good at poetry, that's for sure. But it sounds like he's giving us 'clues'... what clues?"

I looked at Wakko, who was thinking so hard he looked like he was about to explode.

"Don't hurt yourself now," I teased.

"Maybe it's the Haikus."

"What?

"The Haikus. Maybe they're the clues."

"Good thinking, Wak. Ya know, sometime you really are bright."

He put his nose in the air, showing he had pride in himself.

"I'm hungry." He took the note from my hand, and was about to eat, until I snatched it back.

"And other times, you show your middle kid syndrome," I said, a bit annoyed. "C'mon, maybe we'll find a fruit tree on the way."

oOOo

Hours later, we hadn't found any food, nor any more clues. How were we supposed to follow this guy's trail?

I heard a crack, and the sound startled me a little. I looked down, and saw that I stepped on a tree branch. Just paranoid, I guess.

That is, until I heard bushes move.

"Wakko, this isn't the time for your tricks..." I said, getting a little uneasy.

"Yakko?"

"Yeah?"

"That wasn't me."

Suddenly, something flew out of the bushes, over the top of us, and landed on the other side. I looked, and there was a little lavender colored furry creature that resembled a puff ball. Two giant eyes took up half its body, and it had two stubby arms and rabbit's feet.

"Aw, you're cute... could give Dot a run for her money..." I smirked.

Wakko, who, was right beside me, took a step closer. The puff ball suddenly started to whimper, and escape.

"Well, I-" I was cut short by rumbling from the bushes, and out of nowhere came an eight foot ferocious creature. It was purple and hairy, had long yellow teeth that seemed too big for its mouth, and about 12 eyes dotted each side of its head. It was hunched over, had two short stubby arms with two clawed fingers at the end. Its legs had two clawed toes. Spikes came from the top of his head and ran all the way down its tail.

I'm guessing that little puff ball wasn't so innocent after all.

"Wakko, hit it with a mallet!"

Wakko drew out an abnormally large mallet, and took a swung at the creature.

It was a direct hit.

It fell, and seemed to be knocked out.

"C'mon, let's go before it-"

There was a violent shaking, and we looked straight at it. We watched in horror as it split apart into more than a dozen little fur balls. They looked at us, with the same terrified face as the first, and hid. The bushed rumbled, and suddenly we were surrounded by almost two dozen monsters.

They came closer, and closer. I closed my eyes, ready for a blow, but it didn't come. Instead, I heard a yelp. I peered my eyes open, as the creatures all turned to three figures.

They looked exactly like us.

The tallest was a girl, and she looked tough. I noticed her right ear was torn a little. She had a gun in her hands, and smoke was coming out of it. She had a purple beater on, that was tucked into some brown khakis with a few pockets. She wore a brown belt with a holster for the gun.

The middle girl held her hair in pigtails, and in her mouth was... a lollipop? I saw lollipop sticks poking out of her pocket. She wore a spaghetti strap navy blue shirt, and a flowing white skirt that came a little short of her knees.

The shortest one looked even tougher than the tall girl. He wore an angry, scrunched up face. He had no shirt on, showing off some muscles, and torn blue jeans.

The monsters all took notice of them, and started to attack.

The tallest started one direction, first dodging each attack, and then started to go offense. Take her gun, blue rays started to shoot out, slicing them in half. Each one dissolved into the air.

The middle girl dodged each move, jumping up and making two collide together.

The eldest turned as she jumped, and disintegrated them both.

The middle girl then went towards another group, threw lollipops out of her left pocket, and they exploded right in front of the monsters. They fell to the ground with a thud, as the tallest one finished them.

The smallest was as tough as he looked. He threw punches, kicks, and some dodges, as the tallest followed behind him, blasting each fallen creature. As the last one fell, they took a moment, and then directed their attention to us.

"Who are you and what're you doing here? Thought all Cazis (Cay-zees) were dead..." the tallest said as she came up to me, giving me a lethal look. Her eyes were cold and beady, as if she was waiting for an excuse to grab me by the throat.

"I-I'm, Yakko... and this is Wakko... we're the Warner Brothers... what are Cazis?"

The tallest stood there, gave a quick laugh, and then roughly poked me in the shoulder.

"You're one of his minions aren't you? Sent to spy on us, aren't you?" she demanded.

"No! We're from Burbank! We just came to rescue our sister!" I exclaimed.

"Likely story. Any last words before I terminate you?" She held the gun to my head, and I heard it hum up.

"NO! Wait!" My heart was beating a mile a minute.

It was either explain or die.

"Here, if you don't believe me!" I pulled out the two scrunched up Haikus, and shoved it at her. "This was left by some guy called 'N'. Do you have any idea who that is? Please… I need to find my sister, Dot."

The tallest snatched the papers from my hand. She read them, and slowly put her gun in her pocket. Her face scrunched with anger as she clenched the papers in her hand.

"So he took one of yours too, huh? You're gonna be a pawn in his game? Lucky for you, he gave you some time," she said, her voice a bit shaky.

"So you know him?"

"Yeah," she muttered. "You're in luck, we're tryin' to find him too. Follow me."

I watched as she took a few steps forwards, then glanced back.

"You comin'?"

I quickly nodded, pushed Wakko forward, and started to walk. We entered a different path behind the bushes and eventually came to an old log cabin.

"Close your eyes," the tall girl said.

"What? Why?" I asked suspiciously.

"Close them before I poke them out."

We did as she said, heard some clicking, and then a pause.

"Okay."

I opened my eyes, and saw a door open. Wakko and I stepped inside right after the trio, and the door automatically shut behind me. Suddenly, the room pixelated, and a flash swept across the room. A few minutes later, the empty room was filled with computers, gadgets, gizmos: an all full out tech room. It looked like something out of Dexter's Laboratory.

The tall girl turned to us and started to speak.

"This was once a quiet and peaceful forest. The Cazis were well populated, and all was well, until N, a mastermind and evil scientist, he rose up against us and rebelled along with some woodland creatures. He programmed them to fight and match our power. Our father, who was the leader of the Cazis, tried to stop him, but N was too powerful. He took his and our mother's life when he ambushed our village. We were the only ones to escape."

She seemed lost in thought for a minute, then looked up again.

"Now, we have leads, technology, and you guys. I doubt you can make it past the next round since we saved your butts this one, so we'll make you a deal. We'll help save your sister if you help us destroy N, and restore peace in this forest. What do ya say? Deal?"

She held out her hand. I had no other choice but to grab it, and shake on it.

"I'm Jaylee, by the way. That's Candie, and that's Dimitri." She pointed out each of them. "They're my sibs, like you guys. Say, are there more of you? Out in the world?"

"Nope, just us." I shrugged. I watched as Candie came bouncing over to Wakko. She cocked her head sideways, still holding a lollipop in her mouth.

"Why do you have a lollipop?" Wakko asked her. She didn't say anything, but rubbed her tummy and nodded, smiling

"She can't speak. N took her voice in one of our battles. We were still very young, and we had no chance against him," Jaylee said, typing on a control panel. "She loves lollipops. The ones in her left picket are explosives we programmed, the ones on the right are for eating."

Jaylee took the lollipop out of her mouth, and offered it to Wakko. Wakko took it, and put it in his mouth. I slapped my forehead.

"That's disgusting Wakko..." I muttered. He gave me a shrug back.

"Tastes minty."

"Mint is her favorite," Jaylee said, glancing over her shoulder. "She must like you if she gave you her favorite."

"Whoa…" Wakko backed up. "I just met you."

"And this is crazy..." I smirked.

Wakko glared at me, daring me to sing the rest. I hate the song too, but man, it's one of those things that drives Wakko up the wall.

Candie scrunched up her face, as if she was confused and somewhat disgusted. I looked towards Dimitri, who had his arms crossed and was still scowling. I walked up to him, and crouched down to his level. I noticed a scar on his right cheek, but didn't say anything.

"Are you mad?" I asked.

"Not mad," He replied, having a Spanish accent.

"Upset?"

"No."

"Attitude?"

"No."

I cocked my head.

"Then why do you look so mad?"

"Oh, he's always been like this." Jaylee shrugged.

Wakko started to laugh.

"Well, didn't your sister tell you not to make faces like that? I guess it froze that way!" He fell on the floor laughing.

Dimitri didn't like that at all. He retaliated and kicked Wakko's shin. Bad idea.

Wakko glared and pulled out his mallet. He was about to whack him before I stopped him.  
"Wakko, stop," I said, giving him a warning look. "We need them to help save Dot."  
He put the mallet back and pouted.

"Dimitri never says anymore than 5 words," Jaylee added.

"Why?"

She shrugged.

"He's a mysterious little guy. Gotta love him though, pretty tough."

She went to the center, where a table popped up from the floor. She threw a gun towards me, and I caught it. It was small and resembled a handgun.

"It may not look like much, but they're pretty good. Candie designed them. She's the techie in our group. I see you like your mallet, Wakko. If you want, she can upgrade it. She'll put some cool gadgets in there." Wakko took out his mallet and nodded, handing it to Candie. She took it to the table, made several adjustments with lightning speed, and then showed it to him. There were four buttons at the bottom. She clicked one, and it turned into a sword. Another turned it into a double mallet. The third had one side pop out and a laser came out of it, and the fourth one had some storage container pop out. It was empty, until she popped in some lollipops and closed it.

"Thanks!" Wakko exclaimed, the pure joy of a seven-year-old lighting up his face. I grinned, but before I could say anything Jaylee spoke up.

"So I analyzed the haikus... terrible as they are... and I found the next one." She pointed at the screen.

"We're the the red dot, the note is the white one. Five miles down the road," she said. Next, she gave Wakko and I two watches, with four buttons on it.

"The white button tells you the time. The black button is a map, and the green is a scanner. You can scan things, including the notes, and track stuff down with the map. Kinda like a dog. The red button though, is important. Use it to connect with any one of us in case we get separated. We all have one." They showed us their watches.

"Any questions?" Jaylee asked.

Wakko and I shook our heads.

"Good. Then we better get going. 1 Day down, 1 trial down, 23 more to go."

She opened the door, letting her sibs and Wakko out.

"Jaylee?"

"Yeah, Wakko?"

"What will happen to Dot if we don't get there in 24 days?"

She looked at me, then back at Wakko.

"She'll die," she said softly.

I froze in fear, then slowly walked out, my heart pounding in my throat. Seeing the same terror in my brother's face, I put an arm around his shoulders.

"We'll get there," I said. Neither of us said what I knew we were both thinking.

We have to… we just have to.

**oOOo**

**A/N: Hope you liked this chapter and my OC's! Sorry that I'm terrible at writing these Haikus, it's kinda hard putting threats in 3 lines, and a 5-7-5 syllable structure. Interesting? What do ya think?**


	3. Chapter 3: Day 2

Animaniacs

Presents

"24 Days"

Chapter 3: Day 2

**A/N: Hey everybody! Sorry, I've been a bit busy this week, but I've finally had the time to write. I have done a stupid thing and taken up a third story, and will be starting that soon.**

**Steve: Wow…**

**Me: It was a challenge okay? Okay… Anyway, please enjoy the story! J**

**oOOo**

"So… there were more of us?" I asked quizzically.

"By 'us' I hope you mean just my sibs and I," Jaylee replied. "You told me you're from Burbank, right?"

"Yeah… We were drawn up in '29 and we've been on and off air…"

"One of your creators must've stumbled across the Cazis. To the humans, we were just a myth, if I'm not mistaken. You guys aren't original, so I guess someone must've found us, drew you guys to mirror us, and now here you are. It's amazing how they got out alive, or even manage to not be seen," she said, not once looking at me.

Her eyes were steadied on the road ahead, as if she was afraid to take them off of it. She walked stiffly, like she had just come from a long, hard battle. She seemed a bit cold, not welcoming at all. But I wouldn't blame her for that. She didn't look much older than me, yet she seemed to have been through a lot.

"Have you actually been face to face with N?" I asked.

"Many times. With every time, it had a consequence." She brushed her side bangs with her fingerless gloves over her right eye, like it usually was.

"He's strong and powerful. No matter how advanced we get, he matches it. So far we've only been able to push him back. Hopefully, this time we can bring him down with extra help." I saw a slight curling of her lip, but it vanished quickly. She had hope, but not much.

I decided to look back at Wakko to check up on him. He was pulling off lollipops from the bushes dotting the path, along with Candie. He was telling jokes here and there, and describing our life in Burbank.

I'd never heard him talk so much in my life.

Despite her disability to talk, she smiled and tried to laugh. Even though it came out as silence, she was content. It wasn't much of a surprise; Wakko really was the optimistic one. He could light up a dark room with the very essence of simply being a middle kid. He wasn't really very idealistic, but I sure wouldn't change it.

I slowly turned back towards where I was going. Sometimes I wished I could be like Wakko. Just once, I'd love to be that happy-go-lucky kid without a care in the world. I wish I could take this heavy burden off my shoulders, lay down, and sleep. Even though we stopped about halfway through last night to rest, I couldn't get one bit of shut-eye. Where was Dot? Was she okay? Was she being tortured? Was she starving? What is he doing to her? Who is N? Why did he target us?

I felt my heart racing, as situations and 'what if's' started burning up my mind like wildfire.

"If you focus on your goal instead of the impossible, it helps."

A rough voice broke through my thoughts. I glance at Jaylee, who, still wasn't looking at me, but I felt like it was a bit strange that she knew what I was thinking.

"Your expression said it all." She explained. "Trust me; I'm an expert by now." I figured she was talking about Candie.

I glanced at Dimitri, who was walking beside me. He had said little to nothing the whole time we were walking. To be honest, he was kind of creeping me out.

I started to say something, but was interrupted by bumping into something in front of me. I turned and saw Jaylee looking at me. I realized that she had stopped walking, and I ran into her.

"Watch where you're going, kid. You're gonna get hurt that way," she snarled, ripping a piece of white paper off a nearby tree.

"Better watch your step  
Some things are quite slippery  
While others just drop.  
-N"

She frowned after reading the note and held it out, scanning it.

"4 miles this time," she said. I started walking but she quickly stopped me.

"You should watch out. The ground is slippery, and there might be a trap somewhere." She pointed her watch at the ground, and scanned it.

"Just as I suspected. There's a sheet of ice right beneath a thin layer of dirt. One more step and you probably would've been a goner."

I swallowed hard.

"Th-thanks." I gave her a sheepish smile, but she ignored me.

"It's safer to travel by tree branches." She pointed to the trees hovering over the pathway. I wasn't sure if we could do that and not die, but she jumped on the nearest branch as Dimitri followed her.

I looked back at Candie and Wakko, and saw Candie writing something down on a piece of paper. She gave it to Wakko, poked him, and then scurried up the tree. Wakko grinned and followed her, only to end up struggling to get to the first branch. I shook my head in disbelief and helped him up.

"You coming?" Jaylee stood on a branch a little further up, looking at us.

"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses," I mumbled, getting up on the branch. Slowly but surely, Wakko and I hopped from branch to branch, meeting up with them. As we kept going, I kept an eye on him and Candie. They were still poking each other as one caught up to the other, and I realized they were playing tag. I couldn't help smiling; it was pretty cute.

It was dark, and still a bit foggy. Why were we drawn into this mess? This was stupid... we didn't do anything. Why did he target our baby sister? I was sure as soon as he found out how annoying she could be he would've released her, but realizing he has a power to destroy, I doubt it.

Please Dot, don't do or say anything stupid...

Suddenly, wrapped in my own thoughts, I forgot to look where I was going. I missed a branch, and felt myself drop. I covered my eyes as I fell through the branches, waiting to hit the ground, but was suddenly grabbed by my slacks. I looked up and saw Jaylee hanging onto a vine and me.

"Bring me up!" She called back. I saw the others working together to pull us up.

"Didn't I tell ya to watch where you were going?" she demanded, brushing herself off. "You're lucky I caught you in time."

"Well, I'm sorry if I make mistakes!" I snapped.

"There's no time for mistakes, or it will come at a price," she sneered, and continued on.

"Geez, what's got her so fired up?" I mumbled.

"There's more you don't know." I turned to my right, and there, was Dimitri, quickly stepping by.

What was that suppose to mean? I sighed and went on.

This was going to be a long trip.

oOOo

It was late.

Everyone was asleep, except me.

I stared at the fire we had set up. I was too worried to sleep. I wanted to know if my sister was okay, if everything was going to be okay. I wanted to know if I would ever see her again.

I put my head down on my knees. I listened to the sound of crickets, and the cackling of fire. It brought back a memory...

oO Flashback Oo

We sat around the campfire, making one last joke about Justin Bieber. Thank God my sibs had a good taste in music.

"Okay sibs, time to turn in." I stretched, and yawned.

"Turn into what?" Wakko asked. Dot and I just looked at each other.

"Middle kid syndrome," she said, rolling her eyes.

We went in our tent and snuggled into our sleeping bags. That is, all except Dot who complained sleeping bags were smelly, dirty, and inhumane. So she brought a cot instead. I heard snoring quickly arise from Wakko, but not Dot.

"Hey Yak, what would you do if was I ever gone?"

I let the random question soak in for a second, and then smirked.

"Sell your stuff on E-bay." I chuckled slightly, but Dot wasn't laughing. It was dark, but I could feel a glare shoot in my direction like a lethal bullet.

"I'm kidding," I said, then thought for another second.

"Well, I wouldn't know what I'd do… I'd be lost. I'd have no one to yell at me when I wake them from their cutie sleep," I said, then heard a small giggle.

"But you would never let it happen, would you?"

"Never." I replied confidently. "Never in a million years."

oO End Flashback Oo

"Never in a million years."

My lips quivered, and I felt a tear sting my cheek.

"It hurts, doesn't it?"

I was startled by Jaylee's familiar nagging voice behind me, but I didn't bother to look up. I heard her sit next to me.

"When my parents died, I felt so hopeless. I was only eight. Taking care of a six and four year old isn't easy. Neither is defending them. My sibs are the only ones I have left, and they're the reason I keep living. Wakko and Dot are yours, aren't they?"

I slowly nodded. To my surprise, I felt a pat on my back.

"Don't worry, dude. We'll get her back," Jaylee said, sounding almost gentle. "Now get sleep. We have a long day ahead of us."

As she stood and headed back to her spot, I let out a heavy sigh and lay down.

Trying to sleep now was going to be like catching rain in a sieve.

**oOOo**

**A/n: Some chapter will be short, some will be long. I hoped you liked this one. While I was writing the description of Jaylee, dramatic music from a movie in the background came on. Epicness! Haha, Review?**


	4. Chapter 4: Day 3

Animaniacs

Presents

"24 Days"

Chapter 4: Day 3

**A/N: Fanfiction is the fresh breath of air I look forward to every weekend. Man... I'm kinda stuck on trials to come up with, it's like the Wizard of Oz extended version. But, nevertheless, it's kinda fun. Anyways, here's the story. Enjoy!**

**oOOo**

We came to the edge of the forest and saw a huge field full of yellow lilies. They soaked in the bright sun, swaying in the breeze. The grass was green, and we could see a strand of forest on the other side. Everything was normal, except one thing:

The lilies were singing.

It wasn't exactly bad singing, just extremely cheerful, but I could tell neither Jaylee nor Dimitri liked it. They had their hands over their ears, looking a bit annoyed.

"Stupid flowers..." Jaylee muttered, glaring at the field. She turned to us.

"Listen," she whispered. " Walk along that path and don't make a sound. The lilies are blind, but if they hear you they'll start screeching. Got it?"

We all nodded, and then followed her down the path. The singing wasn't that bad at first, but it got irritating pretty fast. I was a little worried, not for me but for Wakko, who had a sharp temper and got annoyed almost easily as Dot.

"I CAN'T STAND IT!"

I heard Wakko burst out, and whipped around to see him pulling out his mallet.

Well, I called that one, I guess.

"Wakko, no!"

I tried to stop him, but it was too late. He was pushing every button, smashing and slashing as many flowers as he could. By this time, an ear piercing screech rose up into the air, making all of us cover our ears.

"RUN!" Jaylee ordered as she dashed off with her sibs. I gave Wakko an angry look. He smiled sheepishly, then took off running. I shook my head before going after him.

All of a sudden, we saw yellow pollen shoot out of the flowers.

"Cover your mouths!" Jaylee yelled. "The pollen is poisonous!"

Without asking twice I pulled off my glove and covered my mouth. Wakko covered his mouth with his turtleneck, but he was stumbling and I could hear him coughing. Finally, he collapsed on his knees. I immediately dropped the glove, scooped him up, and took off down the path. I pressed his face to my chest, trying to block out the pollen.

The stuff stung my eyes, and it was burning my nose and throat. I was starting to feel lightheaded, but I couldn't give up now. Finally I jumped over some bushes at the end of the path, entering the forest. I ran, and kept running until the screams from the lilies were far behind. I fell to my knees, hearing footsteps behind us. Everything was starting to get blurry.

"W-Wakko... are you okay?"

I heard an echoed cough, and some slurred words.

Then everything went black.

oOOo

"BLEH!" I shot up, coughing.

The smell was all too familiar, but was the worst smell in all of history.

"It's just vinegar. I had a feeling we would need it, so I brought a bottle with us," Jaylee said, closing up the bottle. I tried my best to shoo away the smell, but it just kept hanging in the air.

"He hates the smell of vinegar." Wakko explained. He was sitting next to Candie, who was dabbing his elbow with a cotton swab and looking at him anxiously. Jaylee shrugged.

"It got you up, didn't it?"

I just rolled my eyes, deciding to just let her attitude go. It just wasn't worth the fight. Jaylee turned her attention to the note she was holding; apparently she'd found the next

"To pass the next test  
With a key you must complete  
A cave, where death meets  
-N"

She pulled out her machine and started scanning the note.

"At least he's getting better," I sighed. "You okay, Wakko?"

He nodded, his tongue hanging out.

"He had trouble breathing for a few minutes, but he was fine. He had some scratches from you dropping him..." Jaylee said, keeping her eyes on the note while it was scanning.

I scowled at her.

"I was just trying to help him. I wasn't about to leave him there, ya know."

She rolled her eyes in reply, then stuffed the note in her pocket.

"The next note is after a cave we have to pass through." She pointed southeast. "That way, about a mile."

I got up, brushed myself off, and started down the path. But with every step I took, it felt like it was getting hotter.

"Is it just me, or is it getting warmer?" I asked, avoiding looking at Jaylee. She spoke up anyway.

"They call this the road to Hades. It gets warmer and warmer, until we get to the cave, where it's hottest. The cave is made up of many different passages. You must first unlock the cave door with a key, and then find your way out of it."

"How do you know this stuff?" I inquired. I thought it was kind of weird that she knew this in so much detail.

"None of your business," she mumbled.

Why was she doing this? She was sour yesterday, then she was sweet last night. Now she's sour again. What was she, a sour patch kid?

_Let it go Yakko, just let it go._

I took a deep breath, knowing I needed it. At last, we reached a large stone cave with a huge door. There were markings on it that looked like a pattern of lines, with a heart shape at the bottom.

"The first to find its way  
Has a special key  
And the one with a special key  
Will find its way out." Jaylee recited. She reached in her shirt and brought out a heart shaped necklace. She put it in the keyhole, and it began to glow. The rock door slid open, and I could feel heat blasting from the cave.

"Hades, alright..." I mumbled, following them inside. We next saw three passages in front of us.

Out of nowhere, I heard a short whistle; it came from Dimitri.

It went down each passage, but only one echoed back. Torches lit up all along the wall of the middle passage.

"This way, and vámonos," Dimitri said, and quickly moved into it. The air got hotter and hotter the further we went. Water is a funny thing. You never know how much you need it until you can't even produce your own saliva anymore. I saw a canteen shoved in front of me.

"Drink it, it'll keep you hydrated." I reluctantly took it, and took a sip out of it. It was a little warm, but it kept me going.

Dimitri repeated the whistling thing about five times, until we reached another divide. I hoped this was the last one. We were getting slow, and our water was almost out.

He gave another long whistle, but this time, all three echoed back and lit up.

"Great, now what're we suppose to do?" I sighed.

"I suggest we split up. Candie, you'll go with-"

Before Jaylee could even finish, Candie grabbed Wakko's hand and took off down the first tunnel.

"Okay, Dimitri and I will take the second, and you'll take the third," Jaylee said. "Only one will lead through. The others are booby traps, and eventually reach a dead end. I think Candie and Wakko will find their way back, unless they get caught in the traps."

"What!?" I demanded. "I have to go alone and now you're telling me Wakko might or might not come back? Do you want me to lose another sib?"

"I'm going alone," Dimitri said, before walking away and into the second tunnel.

"With Candie's skills, he'll make it out," Jaylee said indifferently, going through the second tunnel. I followed her, my anger almost pushed to the limits. I don't get angry as easy as Dot or Wakko, but she was really pushing my buttons.

"Watch out, there could be a-" Before she could finish, I felt a stone shift under my foot and before I knew it, holes appeared in the walls.

"Watch out!" Jaylee yelled, and then I felt her tackle me to the ground. All I did was blink, saw arrows sticking to the wall and Jaylee's arms around me, on the ground.

I looked at her, and she looked back at me. I saw a strange glow coming from her right eye, but she quickly covered it with her side bangs and got up.

"What's with your eye?" I asked.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about. Now c'mon."

She starting walking back and I followed, deciding not to drag the subject out any further.

"By the way, thanks." I said.

"Force of habit," she spat, not once looking at me.

That's it.

"Okay, I've had it! What's your problem? I've done…"

"Dimitri's already out, Candie and Wakko must have found the right way," Jaylee interrupted as we reached the start of our tunnel.

We went down the first tunnel in silence. It was long and agonizing, especially with the feeling that I did something wrong. But how did I do anything wrong? I just wanted to find my sister. I never wanted to be in this situation.

Unfortunately, life sucks.

"Yakko!" I heard my brother yell, and I saw him with Candie and Dimitri at the end of the tunnel. He waved excitedly, and Candie did the same.

I gave him a small smile and waved back. As soon as we got there, we were out. I sighed in relief when the heat disappeared.

"Harder than you think,  
There's no escaping one way  
The hedge you will see.  
-N"

Jaylee had grabbed the note from a nearby bush. She took her scanner and did the normal routine.

"10 miles," she said, and walked on.

**oO 3rd P.O.V Oo**

"That's right kids…" a deep voice chuckled. A mirror was in front of him, but wasn't one that showed his reflection.

It was theirs.

"Soon, you'll be under my power, and all the forest will be mine... and your precious world, too." A cruel laugh echoed through the walls of his great castle.

Nothing was there to stop him.

**oOOo**

**A/N: And that's it! Who is this mysterious guy? Though, I think y'all already know, but it's still cool to throw it in there. What do ya think?**


	5. Chapter 5: Day 4

Animaniacs

Presents

"24 Days"

Chapter 5: Day 4

**A/N: Sorry it's taking so long to update! I've been running into some more problems, but it's all good now. I missed writing! Anyways, on with the show!**

**oOOo**

We've never really had any friends. None our age, at least. All of our co-stars were either older or younger. I never really understood it, but they told us they had to create an "age variety".

I never believed them.

Slappy was too old for her britches. Yeah, she was the umbrella to our persons whenever we needed protection from another nanny, but inevitably she was annoyed with us, just like everyone else. Skippy, about Dot's age, was there, but he never spent time with us outside the studio. Slappy never let him.

Mindy was just too young. She was about four, and as energetic as she was having her as a friend just wasn't feasible. Buttons was her companion, anyways, and she was always tied to that tree, or running around getting in trouble. Just like us, but, she was just too young.

The Goodfeathers were just... no. They were their own little trio and mostly kept to themselves. Besides, playing with birds didn't seem... fun.

Pinky and the Brain had a whole other objective. Taking over the world seems awesome... once. But every night is just too repetitive. I can't understand a word Brain says, and Pinky... well... he would go along well with Wakko's mindset.

Mr. Plotz was fun to mess with. He got angry, annoyed, and kicked us out. As nice as that sounded, it was never very fulfilling dealing with the topic of friendship. He was a cranky old guy anyway.

As for Scratchy and Hello Nurse, well, they're a slightly different story. Sure, it was fun jumping up the Nurse's arms, singing 'Hellllloooooo Nurse!', and kissing her, she was, for a long time, irritated. Then she got used to us. Scratchy, as terrified and on edge as he was, was more of a father figure. Especially to Wakko. And boy, does he love Scratchy.

So we came to the conclusion, inner and unspoken as it was, that each other was all we had, and that if there was one missing, each of us was missing. We were all for one, one for all times three right?

That hypothesis was tested, and proved excruciatingly true.

I felt empty. I felt like nothing. Holding it together was like trying to hold up Rome at the end of its good years. And just like the fall of Rome, there was a fall of my inner self. I never been away from either of them this long, I've never felt this distinctive feeling, this feeling that I've failed, that I've failed at protecting my siblings. That failure of letting my guard down. How could I do such a thing?

"Hey Yakko, she's wondering if you're okay," came a distant voice.

I felt a sharp jab in my arm, and quickly snapped back into realization. I saw Candie about 2 centimeters from my face. Freaking out, I jumped back, trying to get my heartbeat under control.

"Pathetic..." Jaylee sneered, getting up from her place.

"Ha!" I heard a yell, and saw Wakko flash before me, tackling Candie to the ground before running off again. She grinned, and chased after him.

Well, Wakko seems happier. At least someone's happy.

Maybe it's because Candie is the only outside friend he has ever had. Someone new, someone different. Someone who won't talk back to him. We've only been together for four days now, and, despite the circumstances, he's having the time of his life.

I smirked, deciding to have a little fun myself.

"Okay Wakko, do you want me to tell her, or should I?"

Both Wakko and Candie stopped, and looked at me.

"Who? Tell what?" He cocked his head, his tongue out.

"Candie." I grinned. "How much you like her."

"Of course I like her, she's my friend."

I shook my head.

"No, no. I mean 'like' like her."

"I know I like her Yakko," he said. "I think you already said that." I face palmed.

"No Wakko, how you love her, how you have a crush on her." I got dangerously close to him.

His flustered, taken aback by the comment. I never knew someone's face could turn so red, but he proved me wrong. I took note that Candie was also blushing a little, and was looking away.

"I do not!" He muttered.

"Oh really? Than why is your face so red?" I raised an eyebrow. I glanced at Candie, who was also blushing.

"Stop it!" He stomped his foot on the ground.

"Candie and Wakko sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g..." I sang.

"That's it!" He whipped out his mallet, and started chasing me down.

"Do I have to babysit all of you!?" I felt a tug on my collar and the next thing I know I was standing in front of an angry Jaylee.

"Lighten up for Pete's sake!" I said, rolling my eyes.

"Who's Pete?" Wakko asked, standing next to me.

Both Jaylee and I stared at him.

"What? What I say?"

Choosing to ignore him, I redirected my attention to Jaylee, who was paranoid.

"We are on a mission, not on a trip to Candyland. Get your act together, Yakko! If you act like this now, I'd hate to see how you act at home. Is this who your siblings look after? You're a terrible role model," she scolded.

Normally, I don't really get angry. But when you talk about me and my siblings you've crossed the line.

"Um... Yakko..." Wakko said, but I was too mad to listen.

"How DARE you doubt my role in their lives." I said, raising my voice, pointing at her. "I may be 12, but ya know, I'm the only one taking care of them."

"Really? 'Cause you're doing a great job by letting your baby sister getting kidnapped by a psycho path!"

I wanted to slap her, and I would've if I didn't have morals.

"Yakko..."

"I'm sorry if I can't be everywhere at once, I'm sorry if I can't be perfect. But being a stick in the mud like you seems much worse."

"Oh really? At least I have both of my siblings here, while you were too busy goofing off one of yours got taken! You're careless! You must not love her or care enough for her to man up..." she spat.

Everything boiled up in me. How could she doubt my love!? Of coarse I love her or wouldn't be here enduring this!

"Yakko..."

"WHAT!?" I whipped around, and hit something hard, not meaning to let out my anger.

I saw Wakko, on the ground, holding his cheek. I suddenly realized that I had let out my anger on him, and before I could say anything, Wakko ran off crying.

"Nice going kid, at least I don't abuse my siblings..." Jaylee scowled. I glanced at Candie, who gave me an angry look before running off after Wakko.

I turned and looked Jaylee straight in the eye.

"You talk about my siblings that way again, and I swear I'm gonna hurt you!" I walked off, toward the direction Wakko went.

"Haven't you done enough hurting?" I stopped at that, but decide not to say anything else.

She was right; I'd done enough damage.

**oOOo**

I eventually found them, sitting against an old oak tree, writing and playing in the sand. The heard me coming, and looked up. Candie again shot an angry look at me, while Wakko gave me a face of fear.

And it killed me.

"Hey, Wak... can I talk to you...alone?" I looked at Candie, who in return looked at Wakko. He waved her off, and she reluctantly followed his orders.

"Wakko..." I sat next to him, but he scooted away.

I sighed.

"I'm sorry. I got angry..."

"But... I've never seen you angry like that before..." I could see tears brimming his eyes.

I felt terrible; I should've never laid my hands on him. Yet, I agreed with Wakko myself. I've never been so angry.

"That's because I messed up, and let Dot be taken away... Now she's gone and she might be..." I just couldn't finish it. All the shame just fell, and it bull dozed my wall. I felt warm tears well up, and I felt myself shaking.

"Yakko?" I felt two hands on my arm, and I wanted to turn, but I was too ashamed.

Ashamed to face my own brother.  
Yesterday 6:11AM

**oOOo**

"Well, here we are..." Jaylee pointed to the huge trench and a scrawny broken bridge connecting the two edges. Kinda like the one where we filmed Wakko's Wish, and Wakko broke through the board.

It still reminded me of Vertigo, and I still don't get that movie.

"Wakko, don't fall through it. This time, there won't be a mattress underneath to catch you if you slipped... or a rope." I glanced at him, and he gave me a quick nod. I looked down to catch a peek of what was down there, and was rewarded by the dizzying sight of rushing water about 1000 feet down.

"I'll go first," Jaylee said, before carefully and cautiously starting across the bridge. With every step, a board creaked loudly. Her hands slid across the rope, ready to clutch it if necessary. Suddenly a board broke, and her foot fell through. We all froze, but luckily she didn't fall any further.

"Be careful..." she said, then slowly got up and crept across the bridge as if she was walking across clouds.

After Jaylee was halfway through, I let Dimitri go. He was a bit lighter and smaller than the rest of us, and I thought it would be better if he went. He got halfway through, and this time with no slip or fall.

I then let Wakko move ahead, silently praying he'd be okay. I watched as he slowly made his way over, and onto the other side. I let out a brief sigh of relief. I felt a little push behind me, and I turned around. Candie was waving me over to the bridge.

"She wants you to go next!" Wakko yelled from the other side.

"No, I want you to go next so I know you're safe," I protested. But Candie persisted, pouting and nudging me even more.

"We don't have time! We have 7 hours of daylight left, and we still have to find the next test!" Jaylee commanded from the other side.

Who died and made her king?

"Okay, okay I'm going, I'm going." I took a step, and heard the board screech. I winced, but continued to move on. I clenched the rope for dear life. I heard some other creaks behind me as Candie followed.

About halfway across I heard a whipping noise, felt the bridge shudder, then flip.

We were now hanging on to one side of the broken bridge. One of the pegs on the side we came from must've gotten loose. I looked back at Candie, who was looking terrified, clinging to the rope.

But I could only get a glance before I heard a second swoosh, and the whole left side of the bridge collapsed and Candie slip. I reached and managed to grab her hand, slamming into the wall immediately after.

But I still had Candie.

"Candie!" Wakko cried with Jaylee and Dimitri.

"Oh no, don't worry about me!" I yelled, rolling my eyes. I looked down to see that she was even more scared just dangling there, and was squeezing my hand so hard it was going numb. I was afraid too, as I kept glancing at the river.

But now wasn't the time to show it.

"Candie, don't look down, just keep your eyes on me." I said, calmly. She looked up at me, resisting the temptation to look down.

"Can you climb?"

She nodded.

"Okay. I'll help you up as best as I can. Climb up me, and then the rope. The others will help you up."

She looked at me, taking of a more worried face.

"Don't worry about me, Candie."

Suddenly I felt she was slipping.

"I'll be fine. Be quick!" I demanded firmly, pulling her up a little as much as I could. She wasn't heavy, but it was hard holding a rope in one hand and her in the other hand.

She slowly climbed up me, and I watched her slowly make her way to the top and be pulled up into the arms of the group. I slowly went up the rope next, and was helped up by the others. Candie held her sister tightly, shaking. Jaylee petted her head softly and reassuringly. Then she proceeded to pull the rope up and examined the end.

"The bridge didn't just fall apart, it was cut." Jaylee said. She clenched the rope in her hand, then let go.

"Well there's no going back now," I heard her mutter. She turned and we re-entered the forest.

"Oh, and Yakko..." I swooped around and turned to Jaylee.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for not letting her go."

I was surprised, but Jaylee just brushed past me, not stopping.

At least she thanked me.

**oOOo**

Before long we reached another clearing and stood in awe at the sight ahead of us. A huge winding labyrinth spread across the land. We stepped closer, and saw 3 split paths, one like the cave.

"We have to split up," Jaylee said.

"Why not take the laser to it?" Wakko suggested.

"Because if you cut through it, the hedges with close back up in a blink of an eye."

"Oh," he replied. Then he was pulled away yet again by Candie. Dimitri went in alone without a word, and that left Jaylee and I.

"C'mon, we don't have much time," she said, moving along.

I sighed heavily and followed behind her. What were we in for now?

**oOOo**

**A/N: Sorry for not getting to you earlier, lack of motivation, and little time got in the way. But I hope it was worth it!**


	6. Chapter 6: Day 5

Animaniacs

Presents

"24 Days"

Chapter 6: The Labyrinth

**A/N: Hey guys! Not sure on the length for this one... may be more of a revealer kind of thing. I really hope you like it!**

**oOOo**

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Here I thought the maze was enough, but it just had to be that much harder.

The hedges were alive. Literally.

"I think I've figured out why they called this the Forbidden Forest!" I called to Jaylee, who was running right behind me as we leaped around the vines snapping at us.

"And it took you six days?" she called back.

I also figured out why I don't like talking to her.

We took a left, and quickly found out that it was the wrong turn when we hit a dead end. We turned around, and the vines were slowly making their way to us. Jaylee went for her gun, but the vines wrapped themselves around it and yanked it out of her hand before going for her. Just then, I remembered I had a gun too.

While they were distracted, I yanked it out and shot both of them, enough for them to retract.

"Stay here!" I yelled towards Jaylee and ran. I dodged to the left, to the right, and to the left again. After that I dodged to the right, then to the left few times, but found myself backed into another hedge.

"Weird… I thought that would work," I muttered.

As they moved closer I pressed my back against the hedge, waiting for them to lunge forward, but just then they stopped. I watched as they squirmed wildly, trying to get to me, but they couldn't get any closer. They were all tangled up in their own vines.

"Yes! It worked!" I yelled, throwing my fist in the air.

"Nice job. I guess you are getting better..." I thought I saw a faint look of admiration in her eyes, but she looked down before I could be sure and stepped on the vine's 'necks' to hold them down. She pointed her gun, which she'd apparently picked back up, and vaporized them.

"C'mon, the sun is setting," she said, walking away. I followed right behind her, but just then something snapped around my waist; another vine. As it yanked me back another one wrapped around Jaylee.

It looked like we were in trouble.

**oO Meanwhile Oo  
oO 3rd P.O.V Oo  
**  
"Stop it! Stop it right now!" the little girl pleaded. A small light dimly lit her terrified, scratched up face. Not much else was visible, but she was clearly chained from behind her back.

The dark shadow chuckled, staring deeply into the mirror, which held the scene in which both Yakko and Jaylee were struggling to free themselves from the tightening grip of the vines.

"Ah poor child, afraid to lose your siblings? Don't worry, Dottie… it'll be over soon..." A chilling grin twisted his masked face.

"Don't call me Dottie! And just you watch, they'll save me!" the girl said confidently.

Without a word, the shadowy figure snapped his fingers and the grip tightened on the two helpless creatures, making them groan.

"They're looking a little air tight, wouldn't you say?" he chuckled.

"No!" the girl cried again. Fresh tears slid down her face. She was trapped here, not only being pushed around, but forced to watch her brothers suffer through the tests just to save her. And what made it worse was that she wasn't just causing them pain, but their new traveling companions as well.

"Please! Just let them go! I'll do whatever you want!" she cried once more, desperate to save them.

The figure tightened his fist.

"You can't give me what I want..." he hissed. "They made me who I am, and they will pay..."

"You deserve it, you... you... you jerk!" Not the best comeback, but it was the best she could come up with.

"Shut up!" the figure roared as he whirled around, slapping her in the process. She felt the blow sting her face and cried out, but said nothing else. Instead, she sank to the ground and sat there, sobbing. The shadowy figure turned back to the mirror and smirked evilly.

"They will pay."

**oO Yakko's P.O.V Oo**

Everything was spinning, and getting very hazy; I wasn't sure how much I could take of it. I began to make one more desperate try for air, when suddenly…

_Swoosh. _

I felt myself drop and hit the ground. As I gasped in huge breaths of air, I looked up to see Dimitri with a shuriken in his hand. I looked back to see two more blades on the ground, intertwined with the now-dead vines.

"Thanks dude." I muttered, still trying to catch my breath. He just returned it with silence, going up to Kaylee and handing her the limp vines. She pulled out her machine and scanned them, then glared fiercely.

"Just as I suspected. N was in control of this." She clenched the vines in her fist and got up.

The sun was now almost completely gone from the sky.

"C'mon, let's see if Wakko and Candie are near by..." She pressed a button on her watch.

"Candie, Wakko, are you okay?"

"We're fine, why?" Wakko replied

"Because we just got attacked by vines. Did you guys?"

"No, but it feels like we're just going in a circle..."

Jaylee frowned in deep though for a few minutes before turning back to their conversation.

"He's just trying to separate us." She said harshly, her voice cold and low. A loud burst of static came from her watch.

"Jaylee? Jaylee!" Wakko's panicked voice made my heart sink like the Titanic. Jaylee's eyes widened for a moment before she spoke into the watch.

"Listen Wakko, stick with Candie okay?"

There was a bit of broken speech, then nothing but static. Jaylee closed up her watch, and looked towards the now sunken sun.

"We'll pick it up tomorrow. For now, we'll wait for them here."

I looked at her in disbelief, but by now I'd figured out it was pointless arguing. I sank down to the ground and stared at the hedges as they got darker.

**oO Flashback Oo**

_"I hate you!"_

"You're a jerk!"

I watched as Wakko stormed off to our room, leaving Dot behind, who was pouting with her back turned. They had been fighting all day, and now was the last straw. It was amusing at first, but I now had decided it was time to intervene.

"Dot, you're gonna need him one day."

She threw her head back in mocking laughter.

"Ha! When?" She plopped herself on the couch, and turned on the T.V. "When would I ever need him?"

"Ahhhhhh… I wouldn't say that. You might be in trouble..."

"Like that's ever gonna happen," she snorted, rolling her eyes. Slightly irritated by now, I snatched the remote from her and turned off the T.V.

"What if, God forbid, I wasn't able to be here? Maybe somehow I died, or maybe I was on a trip or something where I couldn't get to you guys. Or maybe you're in trouble, and Wakko is the only one who can get to you before me. He may be annoying and obnoxious sometimes, but if you're ever in need, I know he'd be there for you." I looked at her for a while, but she was completely speechless. I decided to make my way to our room, and I entered. There, I saw my brother lying on his bed, playing his Gameboy. But the light on his face showed that he had shed a tear or two.

I understood, he gets his feelings hurt easily; it was just who he was.

"Go away..." he muttered, not once looking away from his game.

"Whatcha playing?" I inquired, climbing up to his bunk. By the music, I could tell he was playing Pokémon, but I asked just to spark the conversation.

"I don't wanna talk." He persisted.  
_  
I sighed, knowing this was going to be hard. Heck, I was lucky just to make it this far. Trying to get him to talk about things was like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall._

"You're gonna need her someday..." I said quietly.

"I'd rather die..." he muttered.

"Well that's no fun, who's gonna jump in the nurse's arms with me?" I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. But his face didn't change at all.

"Listen Wak..." I drew him closer, carefully closing the game and taking it. He crossed his arms and looked away.

"Oh come on, Wakko… you haven't even gotten to the first gym yet, I think you can wait." I grinned. But he obviously didn't think so. I sighed.

"What if I wasn't here? What would you do then? Not eat?"

"I'll manage."

"C'mon Wakko, we both know that you won't last five minutes." He cracked a little smile but quickly lost it.

"Now, I want you to both apologize to each other..."

"But-"

"Wakko..." I said sternly, giving him a warning look.

He sighed and slid down the ladder, but stopped when he got to the bottom.

"Yakko?"

"Yeah Wak?"

"You wouldn't really leave us, would you?" He cocked his head, his tongue out. I couldn't help but smile.

"Of coarse not Wakko..." I said quietly.

"Good, 'cause Dot can't cook," he said, and went out.

**oO End Flashback Oo **

I paced back and forth, trying hard not to loose it completely. It had been two hours now, and still no sign of Wakko or Candie. Any try to contact them just met with more static. I tried to resist the urge to run off and look for them myself, but it was getting harder by the second. If anything had happened to my brother, I didn't know what I'd do.

"There they are..." Jaylee spoke up, and my head shot up towards the tattered hedges. Wakko and Candie pushed their way through, hand in hand. My legs went rubbery with relief as I jumped up and ran over.

"Wakko! Are you guys okay?"

He smiled widely, tongue hanging out.

"Faboo!"

I grinned back, then noticed Jaylee frowning and squinting at him; I glanced at my brother and shrugged.

"It's his... uh catchphrase, I guess you can say. He says it when he's excited and something is good... or not good..." I tried to explain, but Jaylee just rolled her eyes and shook her head. She looked around and walked up to a nearby vine, pulling off a yellow note.

"Watch what you look at  
You're desires are fulfilled  
You might be deceived  
-N"

After reading the note out loud, she scanned it and looked down the path.

"3 miles. But this may get a little tricky. Your brain can be your best friend, and your worst enemy."

**oOOo**

**A/N: Not too bad of a length. Hoped you like my little flashback there...**


	7. Chapter 7: Day 6

Animaniacs

Presents

"24 Days"

Chapter 7: Day 6

**A/N: Hey guys! Illusion time! Maybe some revealing and realization of each character... There's gonna be quite a description at each, and I warn now and apologize in advance for the, uh, dark images. But please take advantage of the information to let you know a little more about my OC's. :)**

**oO Yakko's P.O.V Oo**

As we walked down the path, I couldn't help smiling as I watched Wakko playing with Candie.

"She's happy..." Dimitri spoke up. I'd been wondering how he had a Spanish accent and the others don't, but I guess if I were to question that, I would have to question Wakko's Scouse accent.

"Is she usually not happy? I mean, she seems just as bubbly as Wakko is..." I watched them as they ran around playing tag. Candie's pigtails flew left and right, dodging Wakko every time he went to catch her.

"Yeah, but..." Dimitri began, then sighed.

"But what?" I asked.

"You can see the damage in her eyes," Jaylee butted in, not once taking her eyes off the road.

I frowned a little. What damage? I know they had their people and their parents taken away from them, and that's enough for someone to be hurt pretty bad. But how far did it go? Still I knew better than to ask; I'd never get an answer from them.

As we walked, a thick white fog began looming in the air. I couldn't explain why, but there was an almost threatening feel to it. I was debating whether I should bother asking about when Jaylee spoke up.

"Candie, Wakko, stay close to us and hold each other's hands. Yakko, grab Dimitri's hand." I did as I was told, then felt someone grab my other hand. As we kept walking the fog got thicker, and thicker and thicker, until I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face.

Then again, my hands are white.

But what really worried me wasn't so much the fog than the pressure on my hands. It was getting less and less, and then it completely disappeared.

"Wakko?" I called. Nothing but an echo.

"Dimitri?" Emptiness.

"Candie?" This time the silence was expected.

"Jaylee?"

I squinted through the fog and saw a very distant shadow. I couldn't tell exactly what it was but it was coming closer, and fast.

I took a step back and got ready to run but something kept me facing forward. I braced myself for a hit, but instead I saw a flash and the object revealed itself to be a mirror. It came to a sudden stop, allowing me to look at the reflection. At first I just saw myself, but then a flash of light swept across the mirror. The next thing I saw was Dot, beaten, bloodied up and chained, screaming my name.

A strong force pushed against me, and everything went black.

**oO 3rd P.O.V Oo**

Everything was blurry. He saw a bright light blaring down at him. Yakko moved a little, but quickly cringed in pain. He blinked back the blurriness, sat up, and noticed that the light was a spotlight on him... and only him. The boy was surrounded by darkness. Nothing could be seen in the space.

_Empty as Wakko's mind_, he chuckled to himself.

There was a click, almost like a light switch being flipped on. He jolted around to face behind him. To his horror, his gaze fell on his baby sister lying there, torn and fragile, not moving.

"Dot! Dot!" the eldest Warner screamed, but it only echoed as if they were in an empty corridor. He struggled to stand up, but quickly fell back down.

_It's like I'm tied down with bricks..._

A clear dome appeared around Dot and Yakko repeatedly called out to her, though it seemed with every call the weight pressed him harder to ground. But that didn't stop him from struggling.

_I won't let them hurt you, Dot. Hang in there..._

The little girl suddenly stirred and lifted her head, then caught sight of her brother

"Yakko!" she called out.

"Dot!" he cried again. He gasped for air as the pressure built up against him, pressing him into the cold, hard ground.

"Yakko, help me! Please!" Dot pleaded, banging on the glass dome.

"I-I'm tr-trying!" he yelled back.

"Why don't you help me?" Her eyes filled with tears.

_Please... Let me help her..._

Suddenly Yakko saw a spark coming from the top of the dome, and then streaks of electric bolts went flying down the sides. One of the bolts caught Dot's hand, sending a jolt of electricity through her body.

But it didn't stop there.

The bolts began jolting all over and through her body. Her tortured screams filled the air, joining in with Yakko's.

"Dot! DOT!" he cried out. "STOP IT! STOP HURTING HER!"

_Please God... make it stop..._

Tears streamed down his face as he watched helplessly. Finally the screams cut off as his sister passed out.

The electricity retreated and so did the dome. The pressure lifted, and Yakko scrambled to his feet. He immediately darted toward her, but soon found out it was useless. The more he ran, the more she seemed to be moving away.

"Dot! Dot!" he called.

Her limp body just lay there, now moving even further into the distance and finally disappearing.

"DOT!"

He fell to his knees in pain and agony. His sobs echoed through the air, filling the air with brokenness.

"Dot..."

**oOOo**

A buzzing sound and a few crickets could be heard in the back ground. There, in the middle of the path was Dimitri, unconscious. Slowly he came to and looked around.

_I'm alone..._

He got to his feet, looking up and down the road.

_Must've gotten separated..._

He had no fear; he was too used to anything that could happen. He might've had less experience than his sisters simply because he was the youngest, but nothing ever surprised the boy.

Or so he thought.

He heard rustling through the bushes to his right and immediately scanned his eyes over them, planting his feet firmly into the ground. He put his hands over the shurikens he was carrying, in case they were needed.

He waited.

One bush began shaking, and the motions grew more and more violent. Dimitri brought his fist up as soon as he saw something fly out, and whacked it hard. But he quickly retracted his hand, shaking it in pain.

_It usually doesn't hurt that bad...  
_  
He watched the object as it fell to the ground. It was a round sphere with a lens on the front of it, like the lens of a camera. Four little scrawny legs on the bottom twitched as sparks flew from it, then it froze.

Dimitri smirked.

_Is that all he has? Ha! Pathetic..._

He turned to leave but once again heard leaves rustling. He looked again at the bush and before he could react more of the metal robots flew at him, but they were no match for him. He pushed them away left and right, punching them, crushing them, and destroying them. For a moment, he had time to catch his breath as the robots lay in pieces on the ground. Dimitri turned to walk on, but a rattling, shaking noise stopped him in his tracks. He turned and watched in horror as the pieces came together, rebuilding themselves into the robots that attacked him. And this time, there were thousands of them. He took a few steps backward and started to dash away, but it was no use.

No matter how hard he ran, it was like he never went anywhere. The robots quickly caught up, jumping on him and pulling him down. At first, he was able to knock some off, but there were too many. As if that wasn't bad enough, it was getting harder and harder to fight.

_Wait... what's happening?_

The muscles he once had were quickly shrinking, along with his strength. He was now at the point where he looked like he'd never lifted a finger in his life. The bug-like robots had overpowered him and were somehow draining him of his greatest power, he reasoned. Now he felt useless.

"Get... OFF," he yelled, his thick accent echoing in the air as he struggled for freedom. But he was so weak, and felt an increased desire to sleep. But he didn't want to stop fighting; it was his life and all he depended on. Now it was all draining, dissipating… it was all gone.

He let out one last yell before blacking out.

**oOOo**

Candie woke up in the middle of a meadow, but could still see the forest bordering around her. She sat up in the tall, itchy grass that nearly swallowed her entire body. She looked around and realized she was alone.

A slight breeze brushed against her cheek, sending chills down her spine. She got up and began to walk, frantically trying to find one of her siblings, or the Warners. She peered through the dark and saw a shadow flash by, and looked like the shadow had a cap on.

_Wakko?_

Candie carefully paced herself as she stepped into the silent woods, which was unusual. Usually there were some sounds, such as birds singing or crickets chirping, but all she heard was silence, as if she was not only mute but deaf. The total silence scared her more than any strange noises could.

Candie broke out into a dash as the darkness crept up and closed in on her. It was hard to breathe and see, and that made it hard to think.

_Jaylee? Dimitri? Where are you!?_

Her head started spinning and she finally tripped over a branch. She didn't bother to get up, for if she did, she knew she would just fall again.

"Candie?"

She spun around and saw the capped Warner looking at her with a calm, reassuring smile on his face. He held his arms out to her, motioning for a hug. Her face brightened, and her fear was replaced by complete comfort. She dove for his arms, closing her own to grip him tight. But she only found herself hugging her own body.

_What?_

She blinked a few times, noticing Wakko was gone.

"Over here, Candie."

She flipped around and saw Wakko once more. She went for him again, but quickly found he had disappeared again.

"Candie, why aren't you coming to me?"

The little girl turned and saw Wakko once more. She ran for him yet again, but didn't reach him. She ran and ran and ran, but could not get to him.

"Candie... Candie... Can-…die..."

Candie froze and watched in pure terror as his color and skin melted into a puddle on the ground, leaving only a jet black shadow peering at her with grim yellow eyes. The shadow hissed, letting a spew of spiders crawl out of the gall of his mouth. They crawled down its dark form, covering the ground surrounding Candie. She wanted to scream, but she could not make a peep.

_HELP ME! HELP! _she screamed in her mind, panicking.

In desperation, she squeezed her eyes shut and reopened them, finding herself in a hollow room. She saw a small figure propped against the wall, not moving. She peered closer, and once again she saw her friend, sitting there like a limp rag doll. His shirt was drenched in red, and a slash through the middle of his chest told her where the blood was coming from. Candie's heart immediately fell and her eyes welled with tears.

_No... please God, anything but this..._

She slowly reached her hand out, gently touching his shoulder. His head, in response, slowly moved up to reveal deep, hollow black eyes.

"Why, Candie?" a voice echoed his Scouse accent. "Why'd you leave me?"

_But I didn't..._

"Why did you let this happen to me?"

_I- I'm sorry Wakko..._

His body was now growing even frailer, and he was quickly losing color. She watched helplessly, tears now streaming down her face, as he disintegrated into nothing but gray ashes.

_Wakko!_

"And it's all your fault."

Candie spun around at the new voice, and saw Jaylee standing there.

_Jaylee!_

She ran to her, wanted to hug her, but she was stopped by the blast of a gun. The blast didn't directly hit her, but the force from the blast had thrown her across the room. Candie lifted her head, now trembling.

_J-Jaylee?_

"It's all your fault, Candie."

The light went out, and came back on. This time, Dimitri stood there. Now repeating what Jaylee had said. The lights came off and on as the same words echoed mercilessly off the walls

"It's all your fault, Candie, it's all your fault."

Now Yakko appeared, and all of them kept repeating it in a monotonic voice.

"It's all your fault."

"It's all your fault."

_Leave me alone!_

Candie backed herself into a corner, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"It's all your fault!"

She closed her eyes, and let the tears flow freely.

_Make it stop... Just make it stop..._

**oOOo**

Wakko felt himself leaning up against something. He woke up to a light blaring in his face.

"5 more minutes..." He muttered sleepily, rolling over, pulling up a blanket that wasn't there. He quickly woke up from his half-conscious state and found himself face planted in the dirt.

He looked around.

"Yakko?"

He looked straight ahead and saw a figure coming towards him. As he peered closer, he could clearly see who it was.

"Candie?" he asked eagerly, standing up. She walked into the sunlight, smiling, and stopped. She proceeded to wink at him and motion to follow her. As soon as he took a step, she broke into a playful dash. Wakko smiled and ran after her.

"Hey, Candie..." he called, out of breath. "Do you know where the others are?"

She didn't stop, but simply gave him another smile as she looked back. He followed in silence as a huge mountain came into view, surrounded by a wall. But as they came closer and closer, she didn't stop. She didn't even slow down.

_But... she isn't a toon... smacking into that wall would..._

"Candie, stop!" he yelled.

She wouldn't stop.

"You're gonna get hurt!"

Still she didn't halt, nor even yielded.

He used toon speed to get in front of her, and stood firm to block her.

She didn't stop or even look at him.

As she came closer and closer, he shut his eyes and turned away to prepare for the collision.

He waited.

Nothing.

He felt a small wind brush past and looked up.

_No Candie._

"Huh?" He turned around and saw Candie still racing to the mountain. She was almost there.

"Candie!" he shouted one more time. But all he could do now was watch as she got closer and closer. Then, she ran into it.

She disappeared.

How could she disappear into that rock? She's not even a toon!

Wakko walked towards the mountain and slowly touched it. It was nothing out of the ordinary, just cold, solid rock.

"This isn't even possible!" he exclaimed, taking out a paint can and paint brush from hammer space.

_I need to find her..._

He painted a black arch, resembling a cave entrance, and entered the black abyss. Taking out a flashlight, he turned it on to look deeper. He looked to his left, but saw nothing. What he saw on his right, however, left him in speechless horror.

"CLOWN!" he screamed, echoing off the cave walls. It was only a realistic, colorful painting, but it frightened him nonetheless.

Wakko quickly chose a direction and dashed off, not knowing he was only going deeper and deeper. His glance went from wall to wall, and it only revealed his nightmare more and more. It was a circus, with clowns and clowns alone. Big clowns, small clowns; dressed in all colors. He could hear wild cackling echo off the walls and continuously echoed through his ears, tormenting him with every step he took. His knees gave out and he fell to the ground, dropping his flashlight in the process. He then just sat there, whimpering.

"What's wrong, Wakko?"

His head shot up at the familiar sound, and his eyes moved to where his flashlight ended up. He saw a foot that he recognized. It shifted as the flashlight was picked up and returned to him, then he felt himself being picked up and placed gently on his feet.

"Thanks Yak-" He was cut off when he shone his flashlight on the figure before him.

Yakko was painted as a clown.

A short scream was let out, and then silence.

**oOOo**

It was familiar.

She vaguely remembered it, and yet the nostalgia just washed over her. She glanced over at the double bunk beds she used to share with her younger sister. The room was in perfect condition, as if nobody had touched it, but it was hollow, empty, and dark. It looked like it had been well conserved, even after all these years. The small dresser and lamp stand still stood in place, and the pictures of little sailboats and the ocean were still in its place, not even the least bit crooked. There wasn't one cobweb to be found. She found it a little odd, but she couldn't focus on that at the moment.

There was fog... and then a mirror...

She tried to recall the things that happened before waking up in her old room, but her head was pounding, making it hard to think. She looked at her watch, but no luck. Just static.  
_  
Stupid watch...  
_  
She looked at the door and sighed.

_Let's see what tricks he has up his sleeve this time... _

She walked over to the door and opened it slowly. She looked both ways only to find both leading into dark abysses. She decided to take the right, and listened to her heavy footsteps echoed through the halls, letting her memory wander back...

**oO Flash back Oo**

_"Would you like some more tea, Jaylee?" her baby sister asked, holding up a little plastic teakettle. They were dressed in some of their fanciest clothes just to play teatime with each other, Mr. Teddy, and Mrs. Fuzzy Wumpkins._

Jaylee smiled, and held up her teacup.

"Yes, please Candie, I am DYING of thirst." They both giggled at Jaylee's exaggeration, and Candie proceeded to fill up her cup with the invisible tea. Jaylee then clinked her cup with Candie's, and sipped the invisible drink. Candie decided to slurp hers.

"No slurping!" Jaylee scolded her, in a very mocking, sarcastic tone. Both of them burst out laughing. Their instructor, Mrs. Jones, would've been furious at them. But she made it so easy to mock her.

"Children, dinner will be ready in five minutes, okay?" Both girls turned as soon as they heard _their mother's sweet voice. She was a beautiful woman, a caring mother and a loving wife. They might have been queen and king, but they refused to let some maids and servants to take care of their children. There were only a few times they had help._

"Okay." they both replied to their mother, who was wearing a slim purple velvet dress. Jaylee loved it when she wore that dress; it was gorgeous on her. She wanted to grow up and be as beautiful and kind as she was. To her, she was the most wonderful woman in the world.

"And put on something a little less dressy, okay?"

"Yes, Mother," they both ginned.

"Alright, dears. See you." She gave them one last smile and then went out.

"Hey Jaylee, what about this one?" Candie pulled out a short sleeve dress, with a solid light pink color with black lace over it, coming up to her ankles. It was one of their less fancy, more casual dresses, so Jaylee deemed it appropriate. She decided to pick out one identical to it, but a dark green instead of pink. They looked at each other, smiled, and went for the door.

Then they heard a scream.

**oO End Flashback Oo**

Jaylee passed Dimitri's old nursery, stopped, and glanced at the room from the door.

**oO Start Flashback Oo**

_"Mother, can I hold him?" Jaylee asked, excitedly. She was proud to be a big sister, and now she had a new sibling; this time, a boy._

"Sure sweetheart, just sit down and I'll show you how to hold him, okay?" She smiled lightly as her daughter sat down in the white rocking chair. Then she showed her how to hold the baby, and gave him to her.

Jaylee never felt so proud and so joyful in her life.

"He's beautiful, Mother..." she said quietly, careful not to wake him. He was only a week old, but he was cute.

"Isn't he?" her mother chuckled.

The baby started to make fussing sounds, and Jaylee freaked a first, but wanted to take control.

"Shh… it's okay, little brother, sissy's here." She smiled, rocking him and singing the little song her mother sang every night.  
_  
"Today has gone away,  
Night has fallen near.  
So don't you cry  
I'm right here  
I'll see you when morning's here."_

Her little brother stopped fussing, and fell asleep.

"Good job, Jaylee..." Her mother took her brother and placed him in his crib.

"I love you, Mama..." She motioned for her to be picked up and kissed, in which in turn she got. It wasn't everyday she called her anything but "mother" but on some occasions, her mother let it slide.

Her mother then took her and tucked her into bed.  
  
**oO End Flashback Oo**

Jaylee stood quietly with a sad smile, but quickly popped out of her nostalgia when she heard a yell.

_That sounded like Dimitri... _

She ran up along a lengthy spiral staircase leading up to a small tower. She kicked the door open, and saw a dark figure holding her siblings by their necks, over the ledge of the window. The shadow had a gun pointed to her with his free hand, and she immediately reached for her own, only to find she didn't have any weapons on her.

"Kaylee... help…" Dimitri gasped. She watched as both of them struggled to get air, terrible fear on their faces.

"Hold on, I'll get you guys out! Let them go, N!" she yelled, but immediately wished she hadn't because she knew exactly what the shadow was going to do.

"If you insist..." The shadow laughed, then let go of them. Kaylee bolted over to the window, but not in enough time. She watched as they fell, and hit the ground with a sickening 'whack'.

"CANDIE! DIMITRI!" she screamed before feeling herself being pushed over.

Then everything went black.

**oOOo**

Suddenly the fog lifted and the whole group found themselves together, back where it first started getting foggy. Dazed and confused, they slowly looked around at each other, then started to get up.

"It was just an illusion to scare us. Let's keep moving," Jaylee said quietly.

She walked on, barely hearing the others following until she noticed a note on a rock. She walked over and picked it up, reading it softly.

"Long is your trial  
You wish you didn't come through  
Watch behind your back.  
-N"

"Well, let's keep going," she said, and continued on without saying another word. For the first time, Yakko didn't question her quietness.

He must've felt it too.

**oOOo**

**A/N: Finally I'm finished! Sorry its a lengthy chapter. I threw a couple of allusions in there just for a little imagery boosting.**

**Steve: You're such a nerd.**

**Me: Hush. Anyways, I got the illusion idea from an episode of 'Huntik: Seekers and Secrets' where the team imagined what they most feared. So I have to give them credit :). If I named all the allusions, we would be here forever. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did, (like showing Jaylee's soft side) and, I promise this whole story won't be as dramatic as it sounds like it's going. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve.**

**So, until next time, review?**


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